GUILDERLAND — Controversial in its planning stage, the pharmacy on the corner of the busy routes 20 and 155 intersection, is now open for business.

Walgreens opened its doors for the first time early last Friday morning.
"I’ve been waiting for these Albany stores," said the store’s manager, Robert Mauro. "I’ve been waiting and waiting."

Mauro has worked for the Walgreens Corporation for the past 20 years and says his company is currently enjoying a financial boom, with another 500 stores slated to open by the end of the next fiscal year. The company’s fiscal year runs from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31.

Walgreens is currently the largest drugstore chain in the nation, with 5,251 stores in 46 states and Puerto Rico, he said.

And more Walgreens are coming to the area.
"We are, over the next couple of years, looking to expand in the area," said Walgreens spokeswoman Tiffani Bruce. "The Northeast in general is one of our fastest growing markets"We will continue to grow in the Capital District."

The Walgreens headquarters are in Deerfield, Ill.
"For about the past 10 or 15 years, they’ve talked about opening Albany stores," said Mauro, who’s originally from Rockland County. Mauro said he is familiar with the area because his wife is from Gloversville, and, he said, the last store he managed was in the downstate town of Suffern.
"Suffern and Guilderland have the same kind of clientele, which is nice," Mauro told The Enterprise.

The closest Walgreens’s from the two location on either end of Route 155, according to Mauro, are in Utica and Kingston. He said the next closest store to open will be in Watertown.

There are about 20 part-time and full-time employees working at the store, said Mauro, who added that the Walgreens company is over 100 years old.
"Back in the late ’70’s and ’80’s, Walgreens was thinking about getting out of New York," said Mauro. "I think there use to be one in Albany." The company re-evaluated its business and marketing plan, like getting rid of their famous soda fountains, and took on a new direction, Mauro said.

Now, says Mauro, Walgreens wants to get back into the New York market.

The new Guilderland Walgreens is open 24 hours a day and carries over 25,000 items, from greeting cards to soft drinks, he said. The store uses a system which links all of its pharmacies and keeps customer records to prescriptions at all of its locations.
"The system allows pharmacists to spend more time counseling patients," said Mauro. "It makes it possible for Guilderland customers to refill prescriptions at any of our thousands of stores across the country." The store also includes a one-hour photography lab and it offers drive-through service

Proposal problems

Walgreens’s original Guilderland application stirred controversy.

Three other drugstores are at or near each of the intersection’s other three corners.

Five houses were torn down to make way for the nearly 15,000-square-foot store.

The Guilderland Planning Board reluctantly approved Walgreens’s application for a special-use permit, saying access to the store, traffic safety, and the size of the building were problematic. These were all points the zoning board took issue with as well. Two petitions with 85 signatures were submitted to the zoning board, protesting the site proposal.
The petitions said the zoning board should not approve a special-use permit for the store because of traffic problems, the large size of the building, and because, "It’s not necessary for the Guilderland’s economic growth."

When questioned by the zoning board, Walgreens officials, citing financial reasons, said a reduction in the store’s size was not possible.
From a business perspective, Mauro said the site is in "a very good location."
After working with site planners and the Walgreens itself, the Guilderland Hamlet Neighborhood Association supported the store’s proposal in exchange for revising the building plans to include a brick façade and "period" antique-style light posts.
The zoning board also added a stipulation that a sign saying "Welcome to the Hamlet of Guilderland," be included on the corner of routes 20 and 155.

One Guilderland resident wrote to The Enterprise this week saying, "In the case of Walgreens, the town effectively said, ‘Put up this sign and you can have your permit to open.’"

Another issue that arose out of the application process was whether or not Walgreens was to be considered a drugstore or a small department store. There was much discussion on the zoning board about the 20-year-old town code’s definition of a drugstore. Some contended that now Walgreens was better described as a department store, which would net be allowed under the current zoning.

Board member Charles Klaer and zoning attorney Janet Thayer both took issue with the definition and asked the town board to examine that part of the zoning law.

No action was taken by the town board.

The zoning board eventually approved the application in a 5-2 vote, with board members Klaer and James Sumner dissenting.